What is "android"

Android \An"droid\ ([a^]n"droid), ||Androides \An*droi"des\ ([a^]n*droi"d[=e]z), n. [Gr. 'androeidh`s of man's form; 'anh`r, 'andro`s, man + e'i^dos form.] A machine or automaton in the form of a human being.

Android \An"droid\, a. Resembling a man.

"automaton resembling a human being," 1842, from Modern Latin androides (itself attested as a Latin word in English from 1727), from Greek andro- "human" (see andro-) + -eides "form, shape" (see -oid). Greek androdes meant "like a man, manly;" compare also Greek andrias "image of a man, statue." Listed as "rare" in OED 1st edition (1879), popularized from c.1951 by science fiction writers.

a. Possessing human qualities n. A robot that is designed to look and act like a human (usually male)

n. an automaton that resembles a human being [syn: humanoid, mechanical man]

An android is a robot or synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human, especially one with a body having a flesh-like resemblance. Historically, androids remained completely within the domain of science fiction where they are frequently seen in film and television. Only recently have advancements in robot technology allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots.

Android is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Aaron Lipstadt and starring Don Keith Opper and Klaus Kinski. The film follows the story of a scientist and his assistant who are working on an illegal android program from their lab on a space station in orbit around the Earth.

The film was voted Best Science Fiction Film in 1983 by The Age, but received a somewhat mixed reaction from critics and viewers.

Android may refer to:

Android is an adventure board game designed by Kevin Wilson and Dan Clark, published in 2008 by Fantasy Flight Games. Set in a dystopian future, where the Moon is colonized and androids and clones are real, players take on the roles of murder investigators, investigating a murder within the fictional cities of New Angeles (a fictional future version of Los Angeles, but placed on the equator to accommodate a space elevator) and Heinlein, a colony on the Moon. Players attempt to gain Victory Points by solving the murder, solving the conspiracy, and/or resolving the investigators' personal issues. The player with the most Victory Points wins the game.

"Android" (stylized as "ANDROID") is the 35th Japanese single by South Korean pop duo Tohoshinki. It was released on July 11, 2012 as the third single from their sixth Japanese studio album, Time (2013). The single pushed the group's total single sales in Japan to over 3.1 million, the highest of any foreign artist in the country. "Android" was released in three editions – a CD+DVD version, a CD-only version, and a Bigeast Board edition.

Produced and co-written by Emil Carlin, "Android" is a dubstep song with a futuristic theme. It peaked at number one on Japan's Oricon weekly charts, and was the fourth best-selling single of the month. It also peaked at number two on Billboard's Japan Hot 100 and Japan Hot Singles Sales charts. After the first week of release, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android's user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard for text input. In addition to touchscreen devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, and Android Wear for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, and other electronics.

Android has the largest installed base of all operating systems of any kind. Android has been the best selling OS on tablets since 2013, and on smartphones it is dominant by any metric.

Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google bought in 2005, Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliancea consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. , the Google Play store has had over one million Android applications ("apps") published, and over 50 billion applications downloaded. An April–May 2013 survey of mobile application developers found that 71% of developers create applications for Android, and a 2015 survey found that 40% of full-time professional developers see Android as their priority target platform, which is comparable to Apple's iOS on 37% with both platforms far above others. In September 2015, Android had 1.4 billion monthly active users.

Android's source code is released by Google under open source licenses, although most Android devices ultimately ship with a combination of open source and proprietary software, including proprietary software required for accessing Google services. Android is popular with technology companies that require a ready-made, low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices. At the same time, as Android has no centralised update system most Android devices fail to receive security updates: research in 2015, concluded that almost 90% of Android phones in use had known but unpatched security vulnerabilities due to lack of updates and support. Its open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which deliver updates to older devices, add new features for advanced users or bring Android to devices originally shipped with other operating systems. The success of Android has made it a target for patent (and copyright) litigation as part of the so-called " smartphone wars" between technology companies.